UNIONS have warned that workers are paying the price for a “continual drive” for profit with the loss of thousands of jobs since the start of the year.

Morrison, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are among firms making job loss announcements or site closures in recent weeks. They join B&Q, Vauxhall, Coca-Cola, Colmans Mustard and Kimberly-Clark in announcing cuts.

The collapse of construction giant Carillion could also lead to thousands of job cuts among workers and contractors, unions fear.

GMB general secretary Tim Roache said: “What links all of these companies is that workers are paying for the continual drive for profit above all else.

“At Carillion, that’s led to the company going bust and taking thousands of jobs with it. In other places it’s simply because the companies want to earn more money.

“If we look at big household names like Colmans and Coca-Cola, efficient and profitable manufacturing sites are being closed to elevate margins and enhance shareholder value. They’re not in trouble, they just want to make more.

“Retail companies have been squeezing workforce costs — worse sick pay, almost no pension schemes left, being asked to work more for less — to simply maintain margins.”

He warned the cuts might make balance sheets look better but will have a detrimental impact on the lives and communities of the workforce.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s been a bleak January for many workers who’ve faced the sack.

“Too many big companies are treating their staff like disposable labour. Bosses forget that these are real people, not figures on a spreadsheet.

“All employers considering redundancies should sit down with unions and work out some better solutions to protect jobs and increase productivity.”

The union warning comes as a study by accountants Moore Stephens published today shows that more than 2,600 construction companies became insolvent in the last financial year. This huge figure represents an 8 per cent jump in 2016-17 when compared with the previous year.

Moore Stephens’s Lee Causer warned: “The fall of Carillion could be the trigger for even more construction companies going under.”